Per recommendation of the site owner of Хлеб & Хлеб, I tried a proven standard recipe for the purpose of making black bagels. I had to make a couple of tweaks to achieve proper dough consistency, and experimented with different bulk fermentation and proofing schedules.
Made two batches on two different days. Second batch came out closer to what I’ve been looking for — chewy but not overly hard bagels with light tang, moderate sweetness accentuated by raisins.
Bagels have every quality of a good rye bread — complex flavor, excellent shelf life, improving flavor with aging. While I don’t believe this is my final black bagel, it’s a successful move in the right direction, and I will definitely be trying them again.
TODO: try the original bread this recipe is based on.
Black Bagels
Based on Scalded Rye with Raisins recipe here (link in Russian)
Yields 12-14 standard 4.5 oz bagels
STARTER: 3.5-5 hours at room temperature
- 60 g mature 100% hydration rye starter
- 70 g whole rye flour, medium fine
- 41 g water
SCALD: 1.5-2 hours at 145F (65C)
- 150 g whole rye flour, medium fine
- 50 g red rye malt powder
- 1 tsp ground seeds of coriander, fennel, dill, caraway or cumin
- 400 g water
Mix at above temperature and let cool naturally, under cover
PREFERMENT: 2-2.5 hours at room temperature
- 171 g starter (all)
- 601 g scald (all)
- 2 g dry yeast
- 170 g water
Preferment is ready when appears “boiling”
FINAL DOUGH: kneading 4-5 minutes, proofing 45 min under plastic
- 947 g preferment (all)
- 350 g whole rye flour, medium fine
- 450 g bread flour
- 2 g dry yeast
- 18 g salt (sea salt used)
- 40 g sugar (brown sugar used)
- 80 g raisins (currants used)
DIVIDING, PRE-SHAPING: 4.5 oz , rolled into bars.
RESTING: 10 min under plastic
SHAPING: classic bagel shape
PROOFING: under plastic 20-30 minutes, until float in water and lightly puffed up.
RETARDATION: overnight fridge, under plastic
BOILING: baking soda and barley malt syrup added to the pot
BAKING: 25 minutes at 500F.
Bake Already! 